As soon as the provincial examination was over, the atmosphere in the city was noticeably different.

Candidates could be seen gathered together in restaurants and teahouses everywhere. When they presented their answers, some were happy while others were sad.

Liu Li thought about it again and again, but still couldn't help it, so he went to find Liu Ji, wanting to ask him to go find other candidates to estimate his own scores.

Unfortunately, he found the wrong person.

Qin Yao went out to do some work early in the morning. When there is no tiger in the mountain, the monkey becomes king.

Liu Ji slept until he woke up naturally. He only woke up after the four brothers and sisters, Dalang, finished their morning reading and called him to have breakfast.

At this moment, the dishevelled man came to open the door for Liu Li. Before Liu Li could speak, he grabbed him in and said:

"You've never been to the Dragon King Temple, right? Let's go together later. Ask Da Zhuang to come with us."

As he spoke, he waved to Sanlang and Si Niang, and pushed Liu Li towards the brother and sister. "You will follow Uncle Li and Uncle Dazhuang in a while. There are many people in the temple, so don't get separated."

While giving instructions here, he asked Dalang and Erlang to prepare the gourd kettle for the trip. He arranged everything clearly for you.

Liu Li opened his mouth several times but never got the chance.

"Uncle Li, Uncle Li, do you know who the Dragon King is? Have you ever seen the Dragon King?" Sanlang came up to him, chattering as if he had a million questions to ask.

Si Niang followed closely behind, and kept asking him why the Dragon King Temple was called the Dragon King Temple and whether there was a real Dragon King in the Dragon King Temple. The chatter in her ears never stopped.

Liu Li studied in the county academy all year round and seldom stayed in the village. He had never taken care of children at home and had never experienced such a scene. He was stunned for a moment.

Liu Ji gave him a usual smile, and seeing that Dalang and Erlang had packed up, he waved his hand to signal them to go out first and go directly to the Dragon King Temple to find something delicious for breakfast.

Before leaving, Liu Ji went into the guest room again and searched by the bed for a long time. He felt strange. He had clearly seen Qin Yao put the cash box on the bed, so how come he couldn't find it?

Of course he wouldn’t find it. The inn was not safe. How could Qin Yao put the cash box in such an obvious place?

However, if Liu Ji looked up and carefully at the roof, he should be able to see a little bit of the edge of the cash box.

However, the height of the beam was beyond his reach; he could not reach it even if he saw it.

In the end, Liu Ji found nothing and had to lock the door regretfully. He then took Liu Li and Da Zhuang, two young men with children, and started a one-day tour of the city.

At the same time, Qin Yao had already met two timber merchants in the morning.

Out of consideration for Jiang Wen's face, they were all very polite to her, but when it came to money, they all wanted to take advantage of her.

When Qin Yao saw this, she had no mood to negotiate the price and went straight to the next one.

It’s also the last one today.

There are only three timber stores in the city. After the unpleasant experiences with the first two, Qin Yao did not dare to hold too high hopes for the third one.

Fortunately, this family did not intend to take advantage of her. They negotiated a good price and also guaranteed to deliver the wood she needed to Liujia Village within one month.

But the full prepayment condition proposed by the other party really gave Qin Yao a headache.

"Manager Fang, in this business, how can you collect all the money before the goods arrive?" Qin Yao looked into the other person's eyes and asked unhappily.

Shopkeeper Fang knew that she would be annoyed, but he also had his difficulties.

"There are beggars everywhere in Zijing Prefecture. The neighboring province to the north has just suffered a locust plague. The roads are not easy to travel this year. If I don't give more money to my brothers, who would be willing to take the risk to go out?"

"The neighboring province is hit by a locust plague?" Qin Yao was shocked. "When did it happen? Why haven't we heard any news from the city?"

Manager Fang showed a helpless expression, "You are still too young." "It just happened two days ago. My brothers came back yesterday and told me. I'm afraid it will take another day or two for the people in the city to know about it."

However, the government must have known about it long ago, but the imperial examination is a major national event, so naturally it should be given priority.

The adults above are probably having a headache right now. The prospects for the spring wheat harvest at home are already not optimistic, and they are unable to take care of themselves.

Now that such a big thing has happened in the neighboring province, and the two provinces are so close, it is impossible not to be affected.

If the government office is like this, what about him, a common citizen?

The roads are not safe, the transportation costs are increased, and the risks are also great. If he doesn't collect the full payment, he can't continue the business.

It’s hard for Qin Yao to believe him, but is it really that difficult?

"It's only about 300 miles from the prefecture to Kaiyang County. Why is it so difficult as you say, shopkeeper?"

Qin Yao looked at Manager Fang helplessly and said, "Don't exaggerate. We have enough grain in Zijing Mansion. Although the grain price is high now, it has not continued to soar. It can be seen that the government has already made moves to release grain behind the scenes."

"Besides, outside the city wall, the lush green rice has already grown, and the autumn harvest will definitely not be delayed. There will only be a one-month food shortage, and we will be able to get through it quickly, and everything will be fine by July."

"As for the affairs of the neighboring provinces, the imperial court will naturally be concerned about them. Shengguo has so many provinces, and not all of them have been hit by locust plagues. I heard that the rice harvest in the south was three times last year. There has been no war recently, and the reserves are sufficient. The disaster will soon be over."

In Qin Yao's eyes, as long as normal plants can grow in the ground, there will be no problem.

Shopkeeper Fang was a little surprised when he heard Qin Yao's analysis.

He had been doing business for so many years that he had naturally experienced the turbulent times in the past, but when he heard about the locust plague in the neighboring province, he still subconsciously felt panicked and uneasy.

But they forget that Shengguo is now a unified and complete country, no longer the fragmented and divided local warlords as before.

"Ah~" Shopkeeper Fang sighed, "After hearing what you said, Madam Qin, my heart finally settled down."

"How about this, 70%?" Shopkeeper Fang took the initiative to give up a portion of the advance payment.

Qin Yao shook her head, "Fifty percent!"

Originally, she only wanted to pay 30% in advance, but considering that the situation outside was indeed not peaceful, she increased it to 50% in order not to affect production.

"Fifty percent is not enough." Shopkeeper Fang's smile disappeared from his face. "Since Madam Qin is so worried about us, why don't you find someone to transport the wood yourself? We can then pay and receive the goods at the same time, which will save you a lot of trouble!"

This was obviously spoken in anger, but seeing that Qin Yao actually stopped to think, Shopkeeper Fang suddenly felt a headache.

"You don't really want to transport the wood back yourself, do you?" Shopkeeper Fang kindly reminded, "This wood is very heavy."

"I'm least afraid of it sinking." Qin Yao suddenly laughed, "Manager Fang, you're right. This is a good idea. It can save a lot of transportation costs."

Shopkeeper Fang: “Ah?”

Qin Yao continued, "Well, you will transport the first batch of timber. You will need to pay 30% of the advance payment according to the rules of the road. I will go back to the village and organize people to transport the remaining batches."

There are five horse-drawn carriages and ox-drawn carts in the village. If we hire five more from Xiahe Village, we can organize our own fleet to be responsible for transportation. That would be great.